[QUOTE]But then if the back is full, people would have to check in and get a security card with no seat. UA does this, and it creates extra work for their gate agents since they have to clear the no seat assignment herd at the gate. I'm assuming CO wants to avoid this headache, as it is pretty bad on the customer experience (e.g., "What do you mean I don't have a seat? I paid for my ticket 3 weeks ago!). If they do move forward with this, they want to come up with a solution that would allow those seats to open up if the load factor exceeds a given amount.[/QUOTE]

On EWR - TLV flights the entire flight has to go to the GA's for an additional security adn passport check by the gate anyway. Why not differ seating until this point under the guise of security.

(Most of these flights are full anyway, but sometimes you luck out with an empty one.)